New scheme launched to redistribute surplus food to frontline charities

A new £1.9 million scheme has been launched which aims to offset the costs faced by food producing companies seeking to redistribute their edible surplus comestibles.

The FareShare Surplus with Purpose Fund project represents an opportunity for charities to work with UK food businesses to ensure that food reaches people who are struggling to afford healthy meals. Its objective is to save good food from going to waste and redistribute it to frontline charities that turn it into meals for people in need.

The FareShare Surplus with Purpose Fund will offset the costs of diverting surplus food to charities and is open to companies seeking to unlock new or hard to reach surplus food, as well as those that haven’t previously worked with FareShare.

Businesses could be eligible for up to £50,000 worth of funding (greater sums can be negotiated where appropriate for high volumes of surplus food).

Working with FareShare helps businesses to:

Measure and report consistently and with confidence

Helps food businesses take targeted action to reduce waste in their own operations, their supply chain and from consumers

Helps the food sector deliver against Courtauld 2025 targets

Helps the UK deliver its part in Sustainable Development Goal 12.3

Funding can be used to cover the additional staff costs needed for packing and sorting edible surplus food, or in building, implementing and managing new processes. It could also cover packaging and transportation costs, or lost income from the sale of surplus to animal feed or anaerobic digestion.

The fund can also be used to unlock harder to reach surplus food, or surplus food that is further up the supply chain.